My favorite albums of 2008 [Updated]

I didn’t buy every album that I wanted to this year. Therefore, I may have only listened to certain tracks from albums I never heard in their entirety. I wanted to list all of my favorite songs from this past year, but I don’t really have time. My favorite albums list will have to do for now.

So, here is the list of top 10 favorites (in no particular order) from this past year. Video bits provided!!

M83 – Saturdays = Youth / Just discovered this band this year and I’m really liking them a lot. I may get to see them in Denver next month! Here’s the video for the single “Kim & Jessie”.

R.E.M. – Accelerate / Wow. After two self-admittedly underwhelming last albums, Michael, Peter and Mike are back in form with an album that sounds more like, well, R.E.M. Here is “Supernatural Superserious”:

Santogold – self-titled / I LOVE this album. It’s an amalgam of rock, new wave, dancehall, hip-hop and several other sub-genres. Definitely one to put on at a party. Here is the single “L.E.S. Artistes”.

Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends / I gotta hand it to Coldplay. They always deliver. This time with the help of producer Brian Eno. Here is the alternate version video for single “Viva La Vida” directed by Anton Corbjn. He also directed a certain Depeche Mode video that it bares a striking similarity to. Nice touch.

Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight / I’ll be honest. I would have preferred another Jenny Lewis and Watson Twins album this year. Oh well. We can’t have everything. This album seemed to meld the best of Rilo Kiley with lead singer Jenny Lewis’ best moments from Rabbit Fur Coat album with the Watsons. Here is one of my favorite throwback tracks from the album, “Silver Lining”.

Cut/Copy – self-titled In Ghost Colours / All I’m gonna say is this CD stayed in the CR-V’s CD changer all summer and then some. Video for “Hearts on Fire”.

TV On The Radio – Dear Science / I was introduced to TVOTR through their last album, Return to Cookie Mountain. So far, I’m liking this album better. The songs are faster and tighter and overall I think they’re onto something better. Here’s “Golden Age”.

Headlights – Some Racing, Some Stopping / What a great discovery! I really love this band a lot. Can’t wait to hear more from them soon! Please come to Tulsa soon!! Here is the video for “Cherry Tulips”, one of my favorite songs of the year as well.

Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us / Ok, this one is definitely my favorite for the the year that was! Much like Bring It Back, I can’t get enough of this album. It’s another CD that played almost endlessly in my car’s CD changer this year. Here’s “My Only Offer”. This one also made it onto a couple of my run mixes.

UPDATE:

Honorable Mention: New Pornographers – Challengers (To be honest, I completely forgot to put this in the top 10 where it belongs. What can I say? I’m not a professional music critic. I have some semblance of a life.) AND Hot Chip – Made in the Dark. LOVE IT!

I wanted to list a few of my favorite songs from 2008…

T.I. – Whatever You Like

Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma

MGMT – Electric Feel(album technically was released in ’07, but I do believe that the single was released in ’08. So sue me if I’m wrong. The song got noticed this year!)

I apologize for the previous comment. You know, occasionally I go on my ridiculous (and rude) rants about things that are only important to me. If you’d like to throw one, or two, shoes at my head, it wouldn’t be uncalled for.